By using this website, you agree to the use of cookies by us and third parties to enhance your experience and serve you with personalised ads and content. For more information, or to change your cookie settings, click here.

Need for Speed Rivals - hands on

Enhance with

Confirm email address:

It's cops versus racers in this PS4 tyre-smoker. Which side will you choose?

Race or chase?

Pick a side, choose your ride and aim for the horizon. Then stamp hard on the accelerator and get there in seconds. In Need for Speed Rivals, there's only one choice to make: will you open up on the open road, or shut down the illegal racers trying to make it their playground?

Whether you decide to play as a cop or a racer, one thing unites both sides of the law. Speed Points are crucial to unlocking powerful new vehicles and special technology to evade the police or arrest racers. You'll earn them by winning races or completing pursuits. And you'll multiply them by taking risks – dodging traffic, triggering speed cameras, powering over hidden jumps and smashing other cars off the road all boost your score.

Return to your hideout or police outpost and you'll bank your points. But stay out on the road a little longer and you'll rack up even more – or lose everything by getting taken down. Can't stand the heat? Then switch sides to see how the other half drive.

Prepare to go too far on PlayStation 4. Will you cross the line?

Redview in the rear-view

The county of Redview is the sort of place you'd want to head to for a little peace and quiet, to escape the rat race. Its rolling country roads, dramatic clifftop beauty spots and secluded woodland dirt tracks would make it a haven for outdoor types – only the danger posed by supercars swapping paint at 250kph means you won't see many hikers enjoying the area's charms.

So the best way to take in Redview County's spectacular scenery is through the windscreen of your own car. Yet the chances are you'll find your eyes fixed on the flashing blue lights in your rear-view mirror, or the tail lights veering between oncoming traffic ahead of you.

Because it's the cars that star. Whether you play as a cop or a racer, the hardware sitting in your garage is impressive. Porsches, Lamborghinis, Aston Martins and more, all recreated in startling detail. Listen out for the whine of the McLaren F1 LM, check out the Ferrari Enzo's carbon ceramic brakes glowing red with heat and feel the neck-straining acceleration of the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.

Crisp, slick, full-blooded, Need for Speed Rivals is a sensational cocktail of speed on PS4.

Join the rivalry

You're drifting round a sweeping bend, eking out some extra Speed Points, when you spot a familiar name hovering above the red Mustang in front of you. You know him. He left your Dodge Charger a smoking mess at the side of the road after a race last week. But he hasn't seen you yet. It's time for revenge.

Redview County is full of stories like this. Open up your world via PlayStation Network and your friends become rivals on the road. There's no distinction between online and offline, no waiting around to enter a race against other players. The next chase is just beyond that junction, the next chance to get your own back speeding towards you.

You might have your race turned into a siren-filled pursuit, or your exploration interrupted by a grudge slamming into your side. Check out network.needforspeed.com to see your progress and plan your next online session, and download the Need for Speed Network app from the App Store to help or hinder your friends.

Or you could simply make Redview County your own private road network and save the bid for bragging rights until next time.